The carbon isotope composition of tooth enamel from all five mosasaur taxa known to date from the type Maastrichtian (southeast Netherlands, northeast Belgium) has been analysed. Differences in enamel δ 13 C values between taxa suggest resource partitioning. Body size and δ 13 C value correlate surprisingly well, with larger taxa having δ 13 C values more depleted in the heavier 13 C isotope.

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Earth’s climatic evolution over the last 5 million years is primarily understood from the perspective of marine mechanisms, however, the role of terrestrial feedbacks remains largely unexplored. Here we reconstruct the last 5 million years of soil moisture variability in Central Asia using paleomagnetism data and isotope geochemistry of an 80 m-thick sedimentary succession at Charyn Canyon, Kazakhstan. We identify a long-term trend of increasing aridification throughout the period, along with shorter-term variability related to the interaction between mid-latitude westerlies and the Siberian high-pressure system. This record highlights the long-term contribution of mid-latitude Eurasian terrestrial systems to the modulation of moisture transfer into the Northern Hemisphere oceans and back onto land via westerly air flow. The response of Earth-surface dynamics to Plio-Pleistocene climatic change in Central Asia likely generated terrestrial feedbacks affecting ocean and atmospheric circulation. This missing terrestrial link elucidates the significance of land-water feedbacks for long-term global climate.

(150) 17 The interest in Arctica islandica growth biology has recently increased due to the widespread 18 use of its shell as a bioarchive. Although temperature and food availability are considered 19 key factors in its growth, their combined influence has not been studied so far under 20 laboratory conditions. We tested the interactive effect of temperature and food availability 21 on the shell and tissue growth of A. islandica juveniles (9-15 mm in height) in a multi-22 factorial experiment with four food levels (no food, low, medium, and high) and three 23 different temperatures (3, 8, 13 °C). Shell and tissue growth were observed in all treatments, 24 with significant differences occurring only among food levels (2-way ANOVA; P-value < 0.05).